Stories from Thursday, January 24, 2008

Arkansans will have a voice this year in early consideration of candidates running for President, sharing the stage with 24 others states in holding a Presidential Preference Primary Tuesday, Feb. 5. Early voting for the Presidential Primary will begin Tuesday, Jan. 29, and continue through Monday, Feb. 4, at both the Eastern District Courthouse in Piggott and the Western District Courthouse in Corning. Courthouse hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be no voting on Saturday or Sunday...

Many long-married couples provide a blueprint of success to their younger counterparts. In keeping with that school of thought, few people are as qualified to be instructors as Weldin and Ruth Wimberley. On Jan. 10, the Wimberleys celebrated 66 years of marriage. Even though they've shared a lifetime of memories, the Wimberleys still vividly remember first meeting in June of 1940...

When Rector native Shirley (Elam) Patton began to lose the use of her arms and legs due to chronic progressive multiple sclerosis, she began to chronicle her experience. Along the way, she made friends with a woman at church who happened to be an artist. Patton had never painted before, but thought it would be a good idea to keep her ability to epxress herself intact...

Wanda Lee Gatewood Hardin, 79, of Marmaduke died Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008, at her home. She was born in Lafe to the late James and Nancy Belle (Beaton) Stephens and was a member of the Gravel Hill General Baptist Church, but attended the First Baptist Church in Marmaduke...

Andrew E. "Andy" Niederkorn, a 1976 graduate of Greenway High School, died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. He was born May 5, 1958, in Paragould and moved to Jacksonville, Fla., in May 1976. He was the owner of Hard Times of Jax long haul trucking company...

D. M. (Buster) Morris of Paragould died Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. Morris was born on March 15, 1913, near Rector. He was the son of Melvin and Grace Easton Morris. His father preceded him in death while the family was fairly young and his mother was remarried to W.J. Rogers, a man Morris admired greatly. That marriage joined two families together with a wide age range...

The Cougars put forth a dynamite effort, playing one of their most exciting games of the season to bring an end to homecoming night last Friday, but would ultimately to guest Earle, the number two ranked 2A team in the state, 66-59. "We played about as hard as we can play," Rector head coach Mark Manchester said. "It was a really great effort on our part to go toe-to-toe with the number two team in the state. For 29 minutes, we were better than them."...

All-NEA Tournament selections Hillary Calhoun and Amber Haynes picked up the slack for the Lady Cougars in a 47-42 victory at home over Bay Monday night. Rector played without standout Hannah Parsley who went down with an ankle injury early in action last Thursday. Calhoun scored 20 points and pulled down seven boards to handle the scoring load, while Haynes notched 12 points and 8 assists in the win...